【正文】 gar den i s l ar ger t han Joe39。s. Bil l works harder t han Joe and gr ows m or e fl owers and veget abl es, but Joe39。s gar den i s m or e i nter esti ng. He has m ade neat pat hs and has buil t a wooden br i dge over a pool. I l i ke gar dens t oo, but I do not l ike hard wor k. Ever y year I ent er f or t he garden pet it i on t oo, and I al ways wi n a l it tl e pri ze f or t he wor st gar den i n t he town! Leson 9 A col d wel e 冷遇 On Wednesday eveni ng, we went t o t he Town Hal l. I t was t he l ast day of t he year and a l ar ge crowd of peopl e had gat hered under t he Town Hal cl ock. It woul d st r ike t wel ve i n t went y m i nut es39。 tim e. Fi ft een m i nut es passed and t hen, at f i ve t o t wel ve, t he cl ock st opped. The big m inut e hand di d not m ove. We wai t ed and wai ted, but nothi ng happened. Suddenl y som eone shout ed, 39。I t39。s t wo m i nut es past t wel ve! The cl ock has st opped!39。 I l ooked at m y wat ch. It was t r ue. The big cl ock r ef used to wel e t he New Year. At t hat m om ent ever ybody began t o l augh and si ng. Leson 10 Not f or j azz 不適于演奏爵士樂 We have an ol d m usi cal i nst r um ent . It i s cal ed a clavichor d( 翼琴 ). I t was made i n Ger many i n 1681. Our clavichor d i s kept i n t he l i vi ng r oom. I t has bel ong t o our fami ly f or a l ong t im e. The i nst rument was bought by my gr andf at her m any years ago. Recentl y it was damaged by a visit or. She t ri ed t o pl ay j azz on it ! She st ruck t he keys t oo har d and t wo of t he st ri ngs were br oken. My fat her was shocked. Now we ar e not al owed t o touch it . I t is bei ng repai r ed by a fr iend of my f ather39。s. Lesson 11 O ne good t urn deserves anot her 禮尚往來 I was havi ng di nner at a r est aur ant when Har r y Steele cam e i n. Har r y wor ked i n a l awyer39。s of ice year s ago, but he is now wor ki ng at a bank. He get s a good sal ar y, but he al ways borr ows m oney f rom hi s f ri ends and never pays i t back. Har y saw m e and came and sat at t he same t abl e. He has never bor r owed m oney f r om me. Whi le he was eati ng, I asked him t o l end m e amp。2. To m y sur pri se, he gave m e t he m oney im mediat el y. 39。I have never bor rowed any m oney fr om you,39。 Har r y sai d, 39。so now you can pay f or m y di nner !39。 Lesson 12 G oodbye and good l uck 再見，一路順風 Our nci ghbour, Captai n Char les Al ison, wil sail f r om Port sm out h t om or r ow. We shal l m eet him at t he har bour ear l y in t he mor ni ng. He wil l be in hi s sm al l boat, Topsai l. Tapsail i s a f am ous l it l e boat. I t has sail ed acr oss t he Atl ant i c m any tim es. Captai n Ali son wil l set out at eight o39。cl ock so we shal l have pl ent y of tim e. We shal l se hi s boat and t hen we shal say good bye t o him . He wil l be away f or t wo m ont hs. We ar e very pr oud of him . He wi l t ake part i n an im port ant r ace acr oss t he At l anti c. Lesson 13 The Greenwood Boys 綠林少年 The Gr eenwood Boys are a gr oup of popul ar si ngers. At present, t hey ar e vi sit i ng al l par ts of t he countr y. They wi l be ar ri vi ng here t om orr ow. They wil l be i ng by t rai n and m ost of t he young peopl e in t he t own wil l be m eet i ng t hem at the st ati on. Tom or r ow eveni ng they wi l be singi ng at t he Wor ker s39。 Cl ub. The Gr eenwood Boys wi l be staying f or fi ve days. Dur i ng t his t im e, t hey wil l gi ve fi ve per f or mances. As usual, t he poli ce wil l have a di f icult ti me. They wil l be tr yi ng t o keep or der . It i s al ways t he sam e on t hese occasi ons. Lesson 14 Do you speak Engl i sh? 你會講英語嗎？ I had an am usi ng experi ence l ast year . Aft er I had l eft a smal vil l age i n t he south of Fr ance, I dr ove on t o the next t own. On t he way, a young man waved t o m e. I st opped and he asked m e for a l if t. As soon as he had got i nt o t he car, I said good m or ning t o him i n French and he repli ed in t he sam e language. Apar t fr om a few words, I do not know any Fr ench at al l. Nei ther of us spoke dur i ng t he j our ney. I had nearl y r eached t he t own, when t he young m an suddenly said, ver y sl owl y, 39。Do you speak Engli sh?39。 As I soon lear nt, he was Engl ish him self ! Leson 15 G ood news 佳音 The secret ar y t ol d me t hat Mr. Harm swort h woul d see m e. I f el t ver y nervous when. I went i nt o his of fi ce. He di d not l ook up fr om hi s desk when I ent er ed. Af t er I had sat down, he sai d t hat busi ness was ver y bad. He t ol d me t hat t he fi rm coul d not af f or d t o pay such l ar ge sal ari es. Twent y peopl e had al r eady l ef t. I knew t hat m y tur n had e. 39。Mr. Harm swort h, 39。 I sai d i n a weak voi ce. 39。Don39。t i nter upt,39。 he Sai d. Then he sm il ed and tol d m e I woul d recei ve an ext r a amp。 100 a year ! Leson 16 A pol it e request 彬彬有禮的要求 I f you par k your car i n t he wrong pl ace, a t r af fi c poli cem an wil soon fi nd i t. You wi l be ver y lucky if he l et s you go wit hout a ti cket. However, t hi s does not al ways happen. Traf fi c pol ice ar e som et im es ver y pol it e. Dur i ng a hol iday i n Sweden, I f ound t hi s note on m y car :39。 Sir , we wel e you to our cit y. Thi s is a No Par king area. You wil l enj oy your st ay her e if you pay at ent ion t o our st reet si gns. This not e i s onl y a remi nder .39。 If you r ecei ve a request li ke t hi s, you cannot f ai l t o obey it ! Leson 17 Al ways young 青年常駐 My aunt Jenni fer is an actr es. She m ust be at l east t hir ty fi ve year s ol d. I n spit e of thi s, she of t en appear s on t he st age as a young gir l. Jenni fer wil l have t o t ake part i n a new pl ay soon. Thi s ti m e, she wil l be a gi r l of sevent en. I n t he play, she m ust appear i n a br i ght r ed dr es and l ong bl ack st ocki ngs. Last year i n anot her pl ay, she had t o wear shor t socks and a bri ght , or ange col our ed dr ess. I f anyone ever asked